Man jailed after trying to pin Wrangle speeding fine on his dead friend

Speed camera.

Published:15:31Updated:15:32Thursday 26 January 2017

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A man has received an 8-month custodial sentence for perverting the course of justice after being caught speeding on the A52.

On September 8 2015 a camera at Wrangle in Lincolnshire was activated by a Vauxhall Astra travelling at 49mph in a 40mph limit.

A notice was sent to the insured Sebastian Batey (35) who responded by nominating Luke Kuliczkowski but with a partial address. Once Mr Batey was asked for a full address, he said that unfortunately the driver was deceased and to rescind the notice.

Mr Luke Kuliczkowski had been killed in a car crash on October 4 2015 so further correspondence was sent to Mr Batey requesting more information on his nomination of Mr Kuliczkowski - specifically how he came to be driving his car at the time of the offence.

Mr Batey failed to respond and made no comment to any of the questions put to him under interview.

Officers made further enquiries including speaking with the sister of Luke who said that he was at work at the time of the offence so couldn’t have been driving the vehicle. This was confirmed by a manager at Luke’s workplace who provided a daily clocking-in sheet showing that Luke was at work at the time of the offence.

Mr Batey, from St Mary’s Avenue, Wittering, was subsequently reported for perverting the course of justice where a jury at Lincoln Crown Court found him guilty.

The judge commented on the aggravating factors in the case of the protracted deception and the grief caused to the family of Mr Kuliczkowski before sentencing Mr Batey to eight months in custody last Thursday, January 19.